Powder blues to get an encore

Ever send out a dress or dress shirt, suddenly need it desperately for that special occasion and remember too late that it's at the cleaners?

The Chargers sort of did that with their spiffy powder-blue jerseys, but after scrambling around like Jeff Garcia or Tyler Thigpen, the team was able to recover the “alternate” uniforms in time to wear them Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC wild-card playoff game at Qualcomm Stadium.

Long among the NFL's more popular uniforms, the powder blues were worn in the Chargers' prime-time victory over the Oakland Raiders on Dec. 4, then shipped (unlaundered, incidentally) to the league office to be auctioned off for charity.

Teams are allowed to wear their alternate uniforms once during the playoffs, but the Chargers never have, and it was decided before last week's postseason-clinching win over the Denver Broncos that the first playoff game would be the perfect event for it.

“Our equipment manager came to me last week and asked if I thought we could get them back,” said A.G. Spanos, the team's executive officer. “It was tough, because last week was short with the holiday. I left about a half-dozen messages before I finally got a call back and was able to talk to someone and explain the situation. We were going to have them overnighted, contingent on winning.”

Fortunately for the Chargers, the uniforms still were going through the preparation for public presentation at auction. No bidding had begun.

“We were lucky,” Spanos said. “They were just about to go live on the auction. It was good timing.”

Players generally were happy to hear they'd be adorned in the powder-blues, primarily because they've done extremely well in them. The Chargers have won seven straight and eight of the past nine when wearing the lighter blue.

Besides, in the words of running back LaDainian Tomlinson, “We're gonna look sweet.”